1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of network-connected electronic devices, and more specifically to network-connected electronic devices employing low-level communication protocols.
2. Background of the Invention
The use of networks, including local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WAN), the Internet, intranets, and myriad other interconnection configurations for electronic devices, has increased greatly over the last several years, due at least in part to the new uses for which such networks may be employed.
For example, a recent innovation involving the use of a network is the ability to connect remote devices, such as computer peripheral devices, to a host computer via a network in a manner transparent to the user. Such a configuration is described in detail in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/974,082 to Han-Gyoo Kim, entitled “Disk System Adapted to Be Directly Attached to Network,” which published as Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0069245 and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Host computers may encompass a wide range of devices, including general purpose computers, personal audio/video players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and many more. The peripheral devices, such as hard disk drives, compact disc (CD) drives, digital video (or versatile) disc (DVD) drives, and similar devices, are commonly located within the same physical enclosure as the associated host computer. However, by instead using a network to connect the peripheral devices with the computer, several advantages are realized. For example, the host computer system can be physically smaller and lighter, as the attached computer peripherals are no longer located within the computer enclosure. Also, power requirements of the peripherals do not need to be satisfied by the power supply of the host computer system. Further, any heat or noise generated by the peripheral device is remote from the location of the user, making for a more enjoyable user experience. Also, multiple computers may access the same network peripheral device without any computer required to act as a host or server. Additionally, access to greatly increased peripheral device capacity, such as data storage, is possible via network connection than with peripheral devices directly attached to a computer system, especially when a portable host system is involved. These and many other potential advantages from connecting remote computer peripherals to host systems through a network have been identified.
Several ways of connecting remote peripheral devices to host computer systems via a network have been devised, such as server/client architectures and Storage Area Networks (SANs). However, many of these connection schemes require significant processing overhead in terms of additional hardware and multiple network-based communication protocols in order to utilize the network. This often results in extended latency and/or decreased throughput of data transfer between the host system and the remote device. Additionally, in the case of SANs, a separate file server in addition to the remote storage device is required, typically increasing the cost of the configuration.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an improved communications protocol allowing efficient attachment of a remote device to a computer system by a network.